The Truth.

We were talking to some friends the other night about blogs and our own blogging.  They mentioned how it's frustrating to them that many people paint their lives as near perfect when they blog. I'm all for counting blessings and trying to look on the positive side but I think they have a point in that it seems like some are trying to deceive. So just in case you were wondering...

• My house is often messy. I try to keep it clean and for the most part it's fairly organized. But there is usually stuff on my counter, I almost always need to vacuum, and you can pretty much bet there are toys on the floor.
• I don't make Tayvin's bed everyday.
• Tayvin's chore list often goes untouched for weeks at a time.
• I make dinner most nights and try to cook healthy but I also like to bake and I LOVE SWEETS!
• We are poor.
• As much as I love making and fixing things up, if I could, I would buy new things instead of refinishing book cases, etc.
• I don't shop at boutiques because I can't afford them.
• As much as I hate waiting in check-out lanes at Walmart, I still shop there because I refuse to spend double on cleaning products.
• I DO NOT work out everyday.
• Date night usually doesn't happen in our house.
• I don't wake up to make Nate's lunch at 5:30 am.
• If we're not leaving the house, Tayvin's hair doesn't get combed.
• Sometimes we stay in our pajamas until just before Nate gets home.
• I don't really use cloth diapers to be green.  Mostly I do it to save money.
• There are plenty of days that go by that I choose to read my own book instead of reading to my kids.
• Sometimes I'm just too lazy to have veggies with our lunch.
• I still have some V-day decorations out.
• We can barely walk in the basement because I have so many projects in the works and I just haven't organized it in awhile.
• I try to be supportive but the thought of Nate going back to school still makes me want to cry.
• I am currently eating Muddy Buddies for breakfast.
• I'm too lazy to use coupons.
• Sometimes I choose to read a novel instead of the Ensign.
• Sometimes I hate the sacrifices we are making in order to make our future goals.

There you have it, the truth. Come back soon for pics of our trip to Alaska if you still care to associate with us. :)

• Oh, but the most important truth, we love our little family and are happy with our lives.

Seriously Hillarious

We are currently enjoying the cold and beautiful Alaska but I thought I'd drop in to tell you this....

The day before we left Tahnyon had Tayvin laughing so hard he peed his pants. Seriously. I thought it was pretty much the greatest thing ever. :)

Overheard: A new one

2 weeks ago, our ward was split. So as you can imagine, there are a lot of new callings being issued.  And my sweet husband who is always willing to serve, was called to be the Young Men's president.  I'm choosing to completely leave out my opinion on it because my feelings haven't yet reached a level that I'm comfortable with.  But I will tell you this... before we went into church on Sunday, I sat in the car with Tayv so we could talk about what's happening in our lives.  We talked about the change of daddy going to school and how his new calling would mean that he'd be around even less. That while we thought we would have weekends with him, that may not be the case now.
 Tayv: "But won't we be sad?"
 Me: "Yah, we'll be sad but we'll also be happy too because we'll know that daddy is serving Heavenly Father and helping people."
 Tayv: "Yah that's true." And then, (very apprehensively) "Well, do you think we should get a new one?"
 Me: "A new what?"
 Tayv: "A new daddy."

I realize this sounds very sad. And it was, it made me cry. I debated whether or not I should tell Nate but when I did, he thought it was hilarious. I'm sure it made him a little sad but he insisted I post it here. 

And just in case you were wondering, there will be no new daddy getting around here.

Change

Our number one goal in moving to Utah (besides being closer to family for a little while) was for Nate to get his MBA.  Although it didn't turn out quite like we had planned,  we will acheive that goal... 4 years after we moved here.  Nate will be starting the Professional MBA program at the U this August. It was a hard decision for us to make, but especially Nate. For the first three years of our marriage, we were both in school. Then we lived in different states for a few months.  We had Tayvin just over a year after we got married. Thus, Nate missed the first two years of his life.  So you can understand why he wouldn't want to repeat that with Tahnyon and our next baby.  But it's what he loves, it's what he needs, and it will be good for us....in the end. I try not to think about the 80 plus hours a week he'll be gone, the dinners eaten alone, the fact that Tayv will attend preschool and kindergarten while Nate is away at school, the summers we'll enjoy while Nate is in class, the missed steps, words, and milestones of Tahn's, going through pregnancy alone, etc.
Instead, I picture Nate's face when he talks about school and that's all I need.

The Verdict.

It has been decided. Tayvin will get his own friends birthday party right around his birthday. The theme he wants is sharks and fish.  I want Tahn to have his own 1st birthday party so 2 weeks later, Tahnyon will get a cute little turtle party with his friends. And somewhere in between, they'll have a combined party for our family. The theme? THING 1 and THING 2! I'm so excited.  The Cat in the Hat will be making an appearance to tell the kids his story, the pictures on the wall will be tilted, there will be kites, and the list goes on. But I'm always still looking for ideas so if you have any, let me in on them!

And thanks everyone for your input.

A swampy party

Still going back... Tayv turned 3 oh, only 8 months ago. He wanted an alligator/crocodile/frog/balloon birthday party. Being 8 and 1/2 months pregnant, I ran out of energy so it didn't turn out quite like I planned but he loved it anyway! He still tells me how the food was the best part! :) Love my sweet boy.

One of his presents from mommy & daddy...

Frog eye salad, ants on a log, frog and alligator jigglers, gummy frogs, and swamp juice...

Ready to blow out the candles...

Yes, I am aware that I was huge...

My cute niece...

Tayv, we can't imagine life without you. You have brought so much joy and love into our home. Thank you a million times for allowing us to be your parents.

3+1=Us

I always have the best of intentions. When I was pregnant with Tayvin, I started a journal for him. I wasn’t the best at writing in it but I wrote about how I found out I was pregnant, how I told Nate, the day we found out his gender, his birth story, etc, etc. I intended to do one of these journals for each of my kids. One day I did go look for a journal for Tahnyon but they didn’t have one I liked. That’s as far as it ever went. Thus, the blog. So here’s the birth story for Tahn’s digital journal…



September 5th- lots of contractions. Went camping. Rode in my dad’s truck. Was absolutely sure I would be having that baby in the tent after the bumpy ride up. Fail.

September 6th- Started to feel uncomfortable thanks to the beach ball under my shirt and decided I wouldn’t mind having the baby come out sometime. (Let’s just say that up until this point, I was perfectly happy being pregnant.)

September 11th- due date.

Canning peaches and decided to make Nate a fresh peach pie. I figured 1 of 2 things would happen. Either I would go into labor because there was a fresh peach pie beckoning to me and I wouldn’t be able to eat it OR I wouldn’t go into labor but then I would have a fresh peach pie to console me. Sure enough, contractions began. They were about 6 minutes apart so we decided to go walk to see if they would increase or decrease. They increased. We waited. And waited. I really didn’t want to go the hospital to have them quit like they did with Tayv. Called my mom and had her meet us in Salt Lake to pick up Tayv. Pain. Arrived at the hospital around midnight. Of course, because we decided to go the hospital, the contractions stopped. Well, they didn’t stop per se; they just weren’t doing much for me. Tahnyon got grounded till he’s 27 and they sent me home.

September 12th-We went up to Kamas to pick up Tayv from Mom & Dad’s and hung out for the rest of the day. I was a bit depressed. Meanwhile, I’m still having contractions pretty regularly. We decided to leave Tayv there so my parents wouldn’t have to drive down again to pick him up.

September 13th-Nate made me breakfast to eat on our deck and we played cards for awhile. 1 pm-show up to church to discover we had missed Stake conference. Went for a drive. Nate made me go on a 4 mile walk. There was a little running involved towards the end. Labor begins! I didn’t sleep much that night but told Nate to go in to work for half a day. He refused.

September 14th-Finally get out of bed at 6 because there is no sleeping going on. (From me, not Nate.) Shower. Start laundry. Go downstairs to do dishes. Water breaks. I think. Change laundry. Wait awhile to tell Nate my water broke because he’s on the phone. Finish packing bag. Refuse Nate’s insistence to go to hospital immediately because I need to finish laundry. Make bed. Clean bathroom. Make Tayv’s bed. Change laundry. Finally admit that perhaps now is a good time. Contractions 2 minutes apart. Again, pain.

10:30-arrive at hospital. Amazing the difference in treatment you receive when you tell them your water broke.

Talk to nurse. Test to make sure it really was my water that broke. Meconium in fluid. Still only 2 cm. Dr orders pitocin. Stacia orders epidural. Sweet relief. Oh, how I love catheters. Nate watches football.

12 pm- baby’s heartbeat starts dropping. Internal monitor. Oxygen mask. Sudoku. Football. Chick flicks.

2 pm- 4 cm. Epidural starts to wear off. More juice. Nate gets to go eat but is instructed to not come back smelling like food because I’m starving.

5 pm-6 cm. Nurse informs me she’s leaving at 7 but wants to see my baby so it would be great if I could hurry it along. :) We loved our nurse. I know how to work under pressure.

6 pm-pretty sure I need to push. Nurse checks- 10 cm. Call the Dr. Waiting. Waiting.

7 pm- practice push. Instructed to not push anymore until the dr. is there-baby’s too close.

7:40-Dr.Hinson arrives and preps. Disgusting details. Monitors removed.

7:50- Push 1, push 2, push 3. Successful VBAC. 

My sweet baby!
I can't wait to do it again. Seriously.
(On his way out, he grabbed onto the scissors. It took 3 sets of hands to remove his iron grip on them. 8 months later, he’s still like that.)

Minutes old...

Tayv meeting his 'little buddy'...

First family picture...

My life, my joy, my everything...

Oh how I love this sweet thing...

Such a happy (and seriously hot) daddy...

Ready to go home...

My life is changed forever.

Overheard-One liners

Just a few of Tayvin's latest one liners.

• "If you like it then you should of put a ring on it."
• "Whatever it takes."
• "Alright BK, let's roll!"
• "Yah, I got this."
• "I'm good with whatever."

Kindness

I've been thinking about kindness a lot recently. About how often I show it and how often I don't. About the people in this world who seem to not know the meaning of it and the many more people in this world that do.
Yesterday I had two experiences that reminded me to get out of my comfort zone, notice those around me, and do all that I can to help them.
So thank you to the man at the DMV that was understanding and kind to this un-licensed mother of two kids (one of which was tired and crying) who truly appreciated your kindness.
And thank you to the sweet old man that saw an overloaded mother and took the 2 minutes out of his time to help me out and remind me of the kindness of others.

Truly. Thank you.

That's what you're getting for now, I'm tired.
Keep scrolling.

My little sister returned home from her mission in New Zealand a couple months ago and

the kids have been having a blast with her since!

These two just can't get enough of each other. They're hooked.

This is what we usually find at the end of a run...

(Look of "Um, mom-could you help me out here please?" always included.)

Until daddy walks by. Then it's all smiles...

The funny thing about this picture is that he was almost done with his cereal. It's like he knew what kind of picture I was trying to get. :)

The Duo

My brother and his wife had their first baby girl 4 months after Tayvin was born. Their second was born 10 days after Tahnyon. Only time will tell if Tahn & RyElle will be as inseperable as their older siblings, Tayvin and Toshlyn.

Prayer time...

2 years ago in Alaska...